


A Gentle Shove

by misanthropiclycanthrope



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 08:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1184143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misanthropiclycanthrope/pseuds/misanthropiclycanthrope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes people need a gentle shove in the right direction, and even then things don’t always run smoothly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Gentle Shove

**Author's Note:**

> Being a generally miserable bastard, I’ve never much liked Valentine’s Day, so I hadn’t planned to write anything. Conversely, however, I do have a bit of an affinity for fluff (especially where Robbie and James are concerned!), so I ended up writing this – essentially the mirror image of my Christmas fic. I only apologise for it being a little rushed (it was 2am…oops).

As Hathaway entered the office he shared with Lewis, its two occupants fell silent; a telltale sign if ever there was one that their conversation was not only unintended for his ears, but also very likely featured himself as its subject.

Lewis had the decency to look embarrassed at their sudden interlude, but Laura, leaning against the corner of Lewis’s desk, turned to him with a warm smile. Uncomfortable, but pretending he hadn’t noticed anything odd, Hathaway gave the two of them a nod of greeting and busied himself at his own desk, removing his jacket and switching on his computer. He knew Lewis would never make him the topic of gossip or talk idly about anything personal pertaining to his sergeant, but he was equally aware that, of anyone, the inspector would confide in Laura Hobson if he had any reason to be concerned.

Perhaps years of finding himself the subject of whispered insults had just left him paranoid. It was more probable that the pair were discussing their own private affairs – they were practically dating, after all.

Shaking off his unfounded suspicions, he turned his attention to the pile of reports on his desk, only for Laura to address him moments later.

“Have you got any plans for tomorrow night, James?”

Hathaway looked up, a small, puzzled frown forming a crease between his brows as he tried to fathom what particular significance tomorrow night held. For an obscure second, he wondered if he had forgotten his own birthday, or something just as foolish. Then it dawned on him what the date was and what that, therefore, made the next day. Ah, so that was what Lewis had been discussing with Laura when he arrived: their own plans for Valentine’s Day.

He caught himself just before his gaze flicked across to Lewis in an automatic reaction that it would be safer not to analyse.

“No, no plans.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.” The pathologist offered him a smile of commiseration that would have irritated him coming from almost anybody else, but Laura’s gesture was born of genuine friendship. Hopefully he looked nonchalant rather than melancholic when he returned the smile.

Laura’s gaze returned to Lewis, who shifted in his seat and mumbled some kind of agreement in the general direction of his computer screen. Hathaway thought he saw Laura raise an eyebrow, but before he had a chance to interpret the action, she moved, giving Lewis’s shoulder a brief squeeze as she straightened. Then she headed out the door with the cheery parting shot, “I’ll let you gentlemen get on with your work.”

Hathaway was beginning to do just that when Lewis spoke, his tone apologetic.

“Sorry about that, lad. Seems Laura’s a bit of an old romantic at heart.”

“Someone has to eat all those boxes of little heart-shaped chocolates, I suppose.”

“Do I detect a hint of cynicism?”

“It’s not exactly my favourite celebration, sir.”

“Fair enough.”

Lewis knew him well enough to let the subject drop without trying to instigate a deep and meaningful discourse about his thoughts on romance. Which was just as well, because it was difficult enough avoiding a frank confrontation with his feelings in his own mind. He may have perfected the art of the neutral expression, but the one person who could see through it was Robbie Lewis.

****

Hathaway spent the majority of the next day attempting to forget the significance of the date. The celebration now just seemed to be an excuse for the greetings-card and confectionary companies to make a little extra profit, rather than occasion to remember a man who had helped those persecuted by the Roman Empire. Yes, maybe he was being cynical, but he felt it was a justified disillusionment. Mercifully, a police station was hardly the most romantic of locations, and he had plenty of work to occupy him, so it wasn’t too difficult a feat.

At six o’clock on the dot, Lewis announced the pair of them done for the day and Hathaway was only too glad to have the excuse to return to his flat, where he was definitely not going to mope around dwelling on the myriad reasons life could never be simple. But just as he was pulling on his jacket, Lewis surprised him.

“Fancy a pint?”

Had Lewis forgotten what day it was? Surely he didn’t have time for a pint if he had to get ready for the date with Laura Hathaway assumed he had that evening. When Hathaway opened his mouth to remind him, however, Lewis was studying him with a strange, uncharacteristic apprehension. Why did he seem nervous all of a sudden? Had his plans with Laura fallen through, leaving him to seek out some alternative company?

One thing Hathaway was sure of was that he wouldn’t be very good company, nor did he want to be out where there were likely to be happy couples celebrating. “I don’t really feel like going to the pub tonight, sir.”

“My place then? I’ll shout you a takeaway.”

Thoroughly confused now, Hathaway cursed their mutual lack of communication when it came to personal matters. Usually he had no problem with their preference for privacy and it was easy not to pry when he had always been self-contained himself, but it did make moments like this difficult to negotiate.

It appeared that some part of his mind had nevertheless reached a decision while waiting for the rest of him to think it all through.

“Yes, okay. Thank you.”

****

Hathaway arrived at Lewis’s first and let himself in with the spare key Lewis had given him long ago, as he had been instructed to do. Lewis had insisted they didn’t both need to wait in the inevitable queue at the little Chinese takeaway and so told him to go on ahead in his own car.

Immediately upon entering the flat, an obviously hungry Monty began demanding to be fed, indifferent to the fact Hathaway wasn’t technically the man who usually fed him. The cat was so insistent that Hathaway gave in and tracked down a tin of Felix – mainly so as he wouldn’t trip over the creature if he chose to keep wending through his legs. It seemed rather illogical to plead for food by potentially causing physical injury.

“Friend for life you’ve made there.”

Hathaway started at Lewis’s voice close behind him; he hadn’t heard the other man arrive. “That was quick.”

“Aye. Mebbe everyone’s descended on Oxford’s restaurants tonight instead.” Lewis began organising plates and cutlery, and Hathaway left his happily munching new best friend to help share out the steaming contents of the takeaway cartons, the mouth-watering smell rapidly convincing him this was a much better way to spend the evening than alone in his own flat, as he would have been had he turned down Lewis’s offer.

They ate in a companionable silence that both men were comfortable in, although Hathaway’s mind never stopped trying to make sense of the last twenty-four hours. Honestly, there was nothing to be concerned about, but he was prone to a bit of overthinking every now and again.

When they had finished their meals, Lewis ushered Hathaway into the living room while he cleared the plates away. He reappeared a few minutes later, handing Hathaway a glass of wine as he sank onto the sofa beside his sergeant. Taking a sip from his own glass, Lewis picked up the remote with his other hand and turned on the television, flicking through a few channels until they caught a glimpse of Hugh Grant’s handsomely foppish features. They both groaned, prompting Lewis to switch the set off again with a soft laugh. As a much-preferred alternative to the trials and tribulations of Bridget Jones, they chatted about work, Lewis’s family, and James’s band for a while, until Hathaway just had to give in to his curiosity.

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir, why did you invite me here tonight? I thought, considering the occasion, you and Doctor Hobson would have had other plans.”

“No.” Lewis’s reply was delivered to his glass of wine, which was currently also the recipient of a contemplative scrutiny. “Laura and I…we’ve decided we work better as friends.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Hathaway’s concern hid his surprise.

Lewis looked up, meeting Hathaway’s eyes and giving an emphatic shake of his head. “Nothing to be sorry about, lad. We’re both happy with that decision.”

His tone convinced Hathaway that the inspector was sincere, although he, along with many others, had honestly thought those two would get together. But if Lewis was content, that was all that mattered. Which only left the other part of his query unanswered. He recalled how Laura had asked about his own plans; had she picked up on his despondency, hinted to Lewis that the older man should give James something to do that would take his mind off of his failures in the romance department? Lewis would never have asked out of pity, but if that had been the reason, Hathaway didn’t think he could bear it.

“Please don’t tell me you invited me ’round because I told you I didn’t have a date.”

“Christ, no, man!” Lewis looked stricken, ashamed that James had misread the reason behind his offer. At least he didn’t look guilty at having been caught out, which reassured Hathaway that he was just being an idiot.

Perhaps Lewis recognised the relief on his face, for he ran a hand over his eyes with a groan. “I’ve made a right pig’s ear of this, haven’t I?”

“Of what?” The confusion had returned; to be honest, it had never really left.

“This –” Lewis made a vague, sweeping gesture with his hand “– was all Laura’s idea. Only I’ve gone about it in me usual clumsy manner. If I’ve got it all wrong, just let me know. We’ll forget all about it and I’ll tell Laura to mind her own bloody business in future.”

Now Lewis looked embarrassed – not a state Hathaway was accustomed to seeing the usually self-assured inspector suffer. Slowly, he pieced it all together: the nervous invitation, the offer to buy their meal, the shared bottle of wine. It had all been so similar to countless other nights spent in each others’ company that James hadn’t realised it was supposed to be different. All that was missing were a couple of candles and some violin music. He had been so certain in his belief that Lewis couldn’t possibly ever feel anything other than friendship towards him that he hadn’t even been alerted by the man’s oddly anxious demeanour.

Lewis obviously took Hathaway’s hesitation, his failure to respond, as a sign he _had_ been wrong. He made to rise, but James shot out a hand to stop him. Lewis’s expression held a mixture of hope and fear when he lifted his gaze to meet James’s wide stare.

“Am I being…wooed?”

Lewis snorted, the tension lifting. “‘Wooed’? You’ve spent too much time around me, lad.”

_No, never too much_. “You’re not wrong.”

Hathaway felt Lewis finally relax; what had been a worried frown softened into a more assured smile. “I’m sorry for going about it a bit…backward, but it took a bit of a gentle shove from Laura to even get me moving.”

“It might have been easier if I’d known I was on a date.” James surprised himself by managing to inject some of his typical smart-arsery into his voice while his stomach was fluttering with amazed excitement and his heart was in his mouth.

“Next time I’ll make it clear.”

_Next time_. James felt himself smiling at the promise in those words as blunt fingers brushed against his cheek. He was overwhelmed by the sudden desire, the _need_ , to kiss Robbie Lewis, and so, to save any confusion or misunderstanding, that was exactly what he did.


End file.
